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For March, CoreLogic reports cash sales accounted for 38.7 percent of total home sales, down from 40.2 percent the prior month and 41 percent a year before. Due to the seasonal nature of the housing market, CoreLogic senior economist Molly Boesel said the year-over-year comparison provides a better picture of the decline in cash sales.

Ongoing settlement negotiations between Bank of America and the Justice Department reportedly reached a stalemate Monday. Citing "people briefed on the matter," the New York Times reported late Tuesday that the offer fell far short of the record $17 billion that prosecutors are seeking to resolve the state and federal investigations. BofA is seeking to continue negotiations while the government finishes readying its petition to file in federal court.

In a market update, Wells Fargo's Economics Group contends that the road to housing recovery will be longer—and much bumpier—than expected. The group said that the "lack of a rebound in home sales this spring has reinforced our view that there was more than harsh winter weather behind the recent slide in home sales and mortgage applications."

A bill designed to amend mortgage fee calculations under new industry rules cleared a major hurdle Monday, passing the House despite reservations from critics who say it may reopen the door to irresponsible lending. Introduced last year by a bipartisan group of representatives, H.R. 3211 would amend TILA to exempt fees from affiliated title companies from counting toward the 3 percent point and fee threshold established in the QM rule.

After a rough 2013—which saw average per-loan profits decline by nearly half year-over-year—mortgage banks are now losing money on each loan originated, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Tuesday. According to the trade group, independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net loss of $194 on each loan originated in the first quarter of the year.

A new blog post from the Urban Institute asserts recent numbers on loan denial rates for minorities weren't too high; rather, they may have been too low. Using HMDA data, the group examined the credit profiles of applicants, noting that the denial rate really only matters for weaker credit profile applicants—they are more likely to get denied.

Consumers' attitudes about housing diminished somewhat last month as economic worries weighed on their minds, according to new survey results from Fannie Mae. "While recent housing activity suggests that the worst of the housing slump may be behind us, this caution among consumers supports our expectation that the rebound in home sales will likely be too modest to pull sales for all of 2014 ahead of last year," Doug Duncan, chief economist.

Citing reports from "people familiar with the negotiations," the Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that Bank of America has been working fervently over the week to come to an agreement with the Justice Department and put an end to speculation on the potential size of the settlement. Though the final numbers remain unconfirmed, if true, the settlement would rival last year's historic $13 billion paid by JPMorgan Chase to resolve similar allegations.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a monthly gauge of credit access based on metrics and underwriting criteria from more than 85 lenders, increased 1.14 percent from April to May, reading 115.1 in the latest measure. According to the group, May's gain came "partially as a result of a slight increase in the availability of jumbo loans."

In its most recent quarterly report, LendingTree recorded a Borrower Health Score of 77.7 in the year's opening months, a decline of 4.5 points from the prior quarter. While the latest drop illustrates Americans still have some ground to make up from the financial crash, Q1's score is still 1.3 points above where it was a year ago, implying "a broader trend of improving borrower qualification levels," the company says.